It would be dark soon, and even though he was as familiar with his part of the forest as he was with the back and the front of his hand, there were dangers when the lights went out-wild animals, evil spirits, big glowing eyes attached to who-knew-what, stuff like that. Read moreĮdric knew he should head for home. While somewhat predictable – given the fairy tale formula being utilized – I still enjoyed following the characters as Christian and Marigold’s friendship grows into a romance along with Queen Olympia’s determination to marry Marigold off and get her out of the way in Olympia’s quest to rule the kingdom.A fun, light, entertaining read for children. I loved the p-mail (correspondence via carrier pigeon), the way in which Ed the troll misquotes a lot of familiar sayings and has an axe to grind with the tooth fairy (who seems to be having a lot of difficulties overseeing the gathering of teeth and the remittance of coin).

I enjoyed how Ferris takes the fairy tale basics – an evil stepmother, a doting father, three older sisters, a hero with a mysterious past and a curmudgeon troll with a heart of gold – and put her own spin on things. I found this to be a fun, entertaining read. Possibly more Shrek than The Princess Bride. Jean Ferris’ quirky and humorous characters and interesting plot about a boy who grew up in a cave learning about how much life is full of surprises, will keep you reading.Quirky and adorable is how I would describe this one. Once Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris is a very cute and fun story with a fairytale twist. Now, Christian had to learn that the world isn’t easy, especially since he learned that Marigold was cursed, going to be arranged to marry, oh yea… and of course the evil queen wanted to take over the kingdom making it easier.

So Christian got a job at the castle working close to Marigold. But good times came to an end when Ed decided it was time for Christian to go out on his own and explore the world. From that they had created a close friendship, even though Marigold didn't know who he was. One day he was intrigued with the book Marigold was reading and decided to talk to her by P-mail (Pigeon mail). He had started spying on King Swithbert’s family and had fallen in love with the youngest daughter, Marigold. So, in the end he moved in with Ed and his two dogs (Hecate and Beelzebub).ġ1 years later, Christian is grown up and turned into an adventurous boy. He was found by Ed, the troll, who tried to make him go back home, but Christian was reluctant. When Christian was still a young boy, he ran away from home.